The prison authorities were repeatedly asked to adopt a comprehensive drug policy for Corradino Correctional Facility but “consistently denied” the request, the then-chairman of the Prison Board said.

Mario Felice recalled telling then-prison director Sandro Gatt and Tonio Borg, who was Home Affairs Minister at the time, that there was a pressing need for a comprehensive drugs policy for prison.

“Unfortunately, my warnings were consistently rejected by the prison authorities, who insisted there was no significant drug problem.

“What’s emerged in the past days is just a snapshot of some of the contradictions in the prison system, which I had warned about some years ago,” Dr Felice said yesterday.

His comments come after Mr Justice Michael Mallia made a damning assessment of the drug situation in prison when jailing Josette Bickle for 12 years for running a heroin racket in prison with impunity.

Mr Justice Mallia spoke of a “failed” prison system that allowed Ms Bickle to “operate with... impunity” and which indicated “collusion with the authorities”.

He even voiced suspicion that the prison authorities tolerated drug smuggling as a means of keeping inmates quiet.

The government said yesterday that “statements made are not a fair reflection of the actual scenario” within prison and that “accusations of complacency or inaction...are simply not borne out by the facts”.

The government had spoken in similar fashion last February, brushing aside Council of Europe concerns that the situation in prison encouraged “informal power structures” and “allowing a considerable amount of drug trafficking to take place within the prison”. The government insisted “there are no gang-type practices” in prison.

“The prison authorities consider that, at the moment, drug abuse and drug-trafficking, while effectively present within CCF, are relatively contained,” the government had said.

The government yesterday defended its drug control and rehabilitation methods within Corradino prison, pointing to a number of administrative reforms it had instituted.

It cited the 480 drug tests conducted on prisoners over an 18-month period between 2010 and 2011, saying that less than two per cent of those tested had resulted positive.

While the Bickle trial brought drug abuse within prison confines back into focus, witnesses described a system that suffered from various other malaises.

Witnesses in the trial spoke of a prison system in which Ms Bickle, as “queen”, was afforded special privileges and visitation rights and direct access to the-prison director, Mr Gatt. One witness even said she ran an efficient “door to door” drug delivery system.

Although yesterday’s statement by the government spoke at length about efforts at curbing drug abuse in prison, a number of questions sent to the Office of the Prime Minister, the Home Affairs Ministry, Dr Borg and the police remained unanswered (see box).

Dr Felice had resigned as Prison Board chairman in 2008 in protest at the way in which the prison was being run by Mr Gatt. He subsequently declared that certain prison inmates received preferential treatment with the blessing of the Mr Gatt.

One prisoner, Leli “Il-Bully” Camilleri, was said to “run the show in prison”, with other inmates going through him to access certain prison facilities such as prison leave.

Witnesses testifying in the Bickle trial gave an identical picture of the situation in the women’s division.

Dr Felice’s comments in 2008 led to Mr Gatt resigning as prison director and returning to the police force. The government subsequently announced an inquiry into prison maladministration in August of that year.

The inquiry recommendations were published in March 2009 but the government declined to make the report public, saying that to do so would prejudice police investigations such as that which led to the arraignment of Ms Bickle.

Unanswered questions

Questions to the OPM

1. Where does the political responsibility lie for this failure of the prison system?

2. What does the Prime Minister intend to do about it?

3. In the Prime Minister’s opinion, does the prison system require radical reform or is it a matter of tweaking certain policies?

4. Some years ago, an inquiry into prison maladministration was held. Its findings have never been published. Does the Prime Minister believe that it is in the public interest to keep the findings under wraps?

5. Does the Prime Minister feel let down by the people he entrusted to run the prison system during the time in question?

Questions to Home Affairs Ministry

1. Now that Josette Bickle has been sentenced and the proceedings concluded, will the findings of the inquiry into prison maladministration be made public?

2. Ms Bickle is now back in prison. What safeguards are being taken to ensure the same situation will not repeat itself?

3. Last February, the government had shrugged off Council of Europe concerns about “informal power structures... gang-type practices and... a considerable amount of drug trafficking...within the prison” by saying that “There are no gang-type practices (at Corradino prison)... at the moment, drug abuse and drug-trafficking, while effectively present within CCF, are relatively contained”. Does it stand by this statement?

Questions to Tonio Borg

1. Does Dr Borg, as Home Affairs Minister at the time, feel in any way responsible for this deterioration of the system?

2. If the minister was not made aware of the drug problem in prison, does he feel let down by the people he had entrusted to run the prison system at the time?